The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Referring now to FIG. 1, a radio receiver system 10 is shown. As shown, system 10 includes a first patch antenna 12 tuned to a first center frequency fc1. System 10 also includes a second patch antenna 14 tuned to a second center frequency fc2. In some embodiments, first center frequency fc1 may be a frequency used by the Satellite Digital Audio Radio Service (SDARS) (e.g., 2.320 GHz to 2.345 GHz in the United States, etc.), and second center frequency fc2 may be a frequency used by the Global Positioning System (GPS) (e.g., at least 1.575 GHz, etc.).
As shown in FIG. 1, a first low noise amplifier (LNA) 16 amplifies the signal from first patch antenna 12. A second LNA 18 amplifies the signal from second patch antenna 14. Signals from first LNA 16 and second LNA 18 communicate with inputs of respective band pass filters 20, 22 that have center frequencies at fc1 and fc2, respectively. A first amplifier 24 amplifies the signal from an output of first band pass filter 20. A second amplifier 26 amplifies the signal from an output of second band pass filter 22.
A first radio receiver 28 receives the signal from first amplifier 24. In some embodiments, first radio receiver 28 may be an SDARS receiver that is compatible with SIRIUS satellite radio and/or XM satellite radio broadcast signals. A second radio receiver 30 receives the signal from second amplifier 26. In some embodiments, second radio receiver 30 may be a GPS receiver that includes a display and/or user interface.
First patch antenna 12, second patch antenna 14, first LNA 16, second LNA 18, first band pass filter 20, second band pass filter 22, first amplifier 24, and second amplifier 26 may be assembled into a compact antenna assembly 32. Antenna assembly 32 may be suitable for mounting on a structure, such as a motor vehicle roof.
Coaxial cables may be used for making the connections between first amplifier 24 and first radio receiver 28 and between second amplifier 26 and second radio receiver 30. First LNA 16, second LNA 18, and coaxial cables tend to be fairly expensive when compared to the costs associated with the other elements of the antenna assembly 32.